ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY SUPPORTING BUDDHIST IDENTITY in LONG-TERM CARE SITUATIONS MARTIN AMBROSE HILLARY a Thesis in Partial Fu
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ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY SUPPORTING BUDDHIST IDENTITY IN LONG-TERM CARE SITUATIONS MARTIN AMBROSE HILLARY A Thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) Submitted September 2011 Acknowledgements. I would like to express my thanks to my Supervisory Team. Professor Carol Munn- Giddings has been there throughout and given skilled, generous and unwavering support. Dr Caroline Currer was originally my First Supervisor and I learned so much from her. Dr Sarah Burch has helped a lot since joining us, especially with the NVivo work. Thanks also to Dr Andy Stevens for reading a draft version of the dissertation, and to Bernard Anderson and Dr Stephen Williams for help with some of the statistics. From the Buddhist world my main debt of gratitude is to Urgyen Sangharakshita (‘Bhante’) who founded the FWBO in 1967, and in 2010 proposed its change of name to the Triratna Buddhist Community. This thesis has the welfare of mainly older people in Triratna/FWBO as a constant reference point. Thus it is with pleasure that I record that now Bhante has celebrated his 86 th birthday, on August 26 th 2011, all the signs are that his spiritual vision is as compelling as ever. I have gratitude, as always, to my Preceptors, Ashvajit (Private) and Surata (Public) and to my dear Kalyana Mitras (spiritual friends) Saddharaja and Jnanamitra. I share a house and a cherished friendship with Jnanamitra, and her support in moments of crisis (academic and otherwise) has been unstinting. Thanks to Vidyaraja who read and commented on a draft version of Chapter Two. Thanks also to Padmasuri and all the anonymous participants who took part so generously. So often I came away from an interview, or looked up from a transcript and found my ideas on the study expanding exponentially! I feel greatly enriched by all their input, and hope now to find practical ways to put some of their insights into action. I have spent most of my working life involved with Long-Term Care (LTC) in various ways. This means that a very large number of clients and colleagues have contributed to my ideas on LTC, and I offer my heartfelt, though anonymous, gratitude. And, as with all I do, I thank my parents, Beth and Tony for all their love and help. Update August 2011- During the time when I have been making minor corrections to the thesis I have had a period of ill-health, and here give thanks for the help of several of the people mentioned above, and many other friends, family members and colleagues. Finally I regret to report the deaths of two Order Members. In November 2011 I attended the funeral of Tarabodhi, who had died at the age of 85. Suffice to say that without his contribution this study would not have existed. March 2011 saw the death of Vijayatara. As Sharon Smith she is cited twice in this study for her PhD thesis (2008) on ethnic minority participation in the Triratna Buddhist Community and in another Buddhist group in East London, and for her work with Andrew Yip (2010) on Western Buddhists who are from LGBT (Lesbian,Gay,Bisexual and Transgender) communities.I only met Vijayatara personally on a couple of occasions, but found her most generous and informative whenever I contacted her by E-mail. Her research work was highly valuable to me and many others, and sadly her life and academic career were cut short at the age of 49 . In recognition of these losses I dedicate this study to their memory. i DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SUPPORTING BUDDHIST IDENTITY IN LONG-TERM CARE SITUATIONS By MARTIN AMBROSE HILLARY August 2011 The Triratna/FWBO Buddhist movement has been associated with younger people and a lifestyle in which single sex residential communities and work projects (TBRLs) have been prominent. There is now a trend towards a wider range of lifestyles including fewer people living communally. Demographic changes include 50+ average age for ordained members and some people developing Long-Term Care (LTC) needs, with limited family and financial support. This raises questions as to the extent to which ‘Buddhist identity’ can be supported in LTC situations, with informal care, mainstream LTC services and possible care-based TBRLs all relevant.Data-gathering was initially on the basis of a general investigation of LTC issues in Triratna/FWBO using an eclectic, primarily qualitative design which had features of both a case study and a cross-sectional survey . 17 interviews included participants with current LTC needs, others asked to anticipate future care preferences, and people with relevant expertise. A questionnaire was formulated to explore attitudes to possible care-based TBRLs, with 107 participants and numerous additional comments. There was a strong consensus that Buddhist-based LTC services would, for example, provide better vegetarian diets and have an understanding of Buddhist names taken at ordination. These features were included in a conceptualisation of Buddhist identity which contrasted ‘Buddhist’ and ‘Non-Buddhist’ life, and noted ‘Dreams’ and ‘Nightmares’ as to LTC. Effective basic care was seen as essential to the general level of well-being needed for Buddhist practice, whilst a higher level of support might facilitate access to Buddhist ‘life goods’, and assist people in self-verifying themselves as committed Buddhists through ongoing practice. Informal support from fellow Buddhists was available in many contexts, but not at levels of intensity and duration characteristic of some family-based care, and it was seen as modulated by perceptions of burden, ‘busy-ness’ and other factors. There was a ‘legacy of suspicion’ of mainstream LTC, mainly focussed on residential care, with acknowledgement of some good/respectful carers and care services . TBRLs in LTC were generally welcomed, being seen as suitably altruistic work which might feature an atmosphere of ‘mutuality’ between staff and clients who were Buddhist or of Buddhist sympathy. Comparative material was used here from Methodist, Jewish and Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) communities in LTC contexts, with the last of these conceptualised as comparable to the Western Buddhist community as a currently emerging identity in terms of later life services. Practicality and feasibility were discussed with reference to existing TBRLs, and experience of paid-for care input between Buddhists. The latter appeared supportive of Buddhist identity and readily linked to the personalisation agenda in social care. Buddhist-friendly services were seen as a possible context for generativity, and the concept of ‘a natural part of life’ was explored in terms of the emergence of LTC in the Triratna/FWBO movement,and of Buddhism as a gradually more familiar identity which might be encountered in the sphere of LTC. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE – INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ............................................. 1 Overview Of Structure And Content ........................................................................ 1 Beginnings ................................................................................................................ 3 First proposal ............................................................................................................. 6 Re-formulation .......................................................................................................... 8 Research Questions (Revised)................................................................................. 10 PART TWO- REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND MATERIAL ...... 13 Introduction to Part Two ......................................................................................... 13 Note on Literature Searching .................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER TWO: BUDDHISM AND THE TRIRATNA/FWBO MOVEMENT..... 17 Preliminary comments ............................................................................................ 17 The Three Jewels of Buddhism ............................................................................... 18 Lifestyles in the history of Buddhism ..................................................................... 21 Buddhism arrives in the West ................................................................................. 24 Sangharakshita founds the FWBO .......................................................................... 25 Controversial aspects .............................................................................................. 28 ‘The Three Cs’ ........................................................................................................ 29 Centres .................................................................................................................... 30 Communities ............................................................................................................ 32 TBRLs (formerly co-operatives) .............................................................................. 32 Other aspects of lifestyle ......................................................................................... 34 The Triratna Buddhist Community in 2010 ............................................................ 36 Concluding comments ............................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER THREE: IDENTITY ...............................................................................